End of it All
by Historyexplorer12
Summary: Hephaestion realizes he is not Alexander's one and only anymore. For the day of Alexander's death. Disclaimer: I do not own Alexander or Phai! Warnings: technically NOT a Death!fic, swearing, tissues maybe?, established slash relationship, may be in wrong genres, rated T for safety


**AN: For the day of Alexander's death even though this is technically not a Death!fic. I was listening to the song "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" multiple times after reading an Avengers fic that used it, and it gave me this idea many hours later. Hope you all enjoy it!**

Hephaestion stood at his bedchamber's lone window with a cup of unwatered wine in hand, overlooking Babylon. First Bagoas, even though the boy was only fifteen summers old, and now this… girl of only barely fourteen summers herself.

Hephaestion sighed deeply before taking a long drink from his cup, draining it. He didn't usually find a cause to drink so heavily, but tonight he had most definitely found it, by the gods. Turning around on unsteady legs, he leaned against the windowsill and blearily surveyed the room- his room. He hadn't stayed in his own room for many years, and yet here he was, cast aside like a dirty loincloth- used during the day and discarded at night.

"Well, fuck you too, Alexander…" He murmured to the empty room, inebriated beyond even his own control. And then suddenly he got an idea. It was evil, he knew that, and yet he found that he couldn't care less. Steadied by his idea and thoughts coming to him crystal clear by it as well, he began to pack his things. As he was doing that, he called his one and only page, Hermes, to him, "When I am gone, go down to Alexander and tell him. He will follow me," "Hopefully…" "You've been a good boy, Hermes. I am proud to say that you served me so well. I hope you grow up to be strong and wise."

"I-I will try, Lord Hephaestion," a naturally nervous person, Hermes stuttered a bit before giving Hephaestion a weak smile.

"Good boy. Give me a few hours to get away and then go tell Alexander I've gone."

But Hephaestion, it seemed, was not in the gods' favor that night. As soon as those words fell from his lips, Alexander burst into the room, he face flushed with panic and hurry.

"Oh gods, Phai! I thought you had left!"

Hephaestion glanced at Hermes, who sincerely looked just as shocked as he would be if he wasn't so drunk and set in his plan, "Leave us, Hermes. The King and I have much to discuss. It will be all right," when the boy began to shiver and whimper on account of his nervous temperament, thinking he was in trouble. When the distressed boy had gone safely into the hands of a guard at the door, who then took him down to the kitchens to have something to eat, Hephaestion turned back to his greatly wayward lover, "How did you know?"

Alexander looked stunned, "How did I- Phai, we are connected! I knew in my heart the moment you felt upset, I just could not get away until now!"

"And what am I upset about, if you say I'm upset?"

This made Alexander pause; it was clear from how his face changed that he did not know, "Well, I-um…"

"If we are so connected, you would know why I was upset without me having to tell you, and would have tried to make up for it by now!"

"Not every person can know what upsets their lover all the time!" Alexander yelled back, the air starting to crackle with the tension between them.

"You should! You should, Alexander! You should realize that this is the first time we've really, truly said anything to each other in six months! You should know that seeing you with that- _boy_ -!"

"Bagoas. His name is Bagoas," the king pointed out.

"Does it look like I care? This is the first time in what feels like forever that you paid any amount of attention to me, and I'm yelling at you instead of kissing you! Do you think I want that? Do you think I should need to be upset to get one iota of your time and attention? I don't think so, no! But that's what I'm doing, because now you have _him_ and _her_ to give you love and care! It's been seventeen years, Alexander! Seventeen years, I've been loyal to you! Since we were twelve years old! Doesn't that mean anything anymore?" now Hephaestion had quieted down, whispering this last, most poignant question.

Now Alexander was gentle, his lover's raw and clear emotion concerning him, "Of course it does, Love. Of course it does. I am so sorry I made you think it didn't. That was never my intention. I'll move Bagoas to the harem along with Roxana-"

"I think I need time away, Alexander. I need to get away from him, her-" here he paused before continuing in a whisper, "and you…"

Alexander closed his eyes for a long moment, the simple gesture showing that his heart was breaking, "All right. Come back to me when you figure out what you want. May the gods keep you safe on your journey to self discovery," here Alexander closed the distance between them, leaning in slightly to kiss Hephaestion on the cheek in goodbye.

And watched him leave without looking back, realizing in that moment that this was the death of a love that was meant to rival that of Achilles and Patroclus. It truly was the end of it all.

 **AN: I just realized this is my 50th story here! Yay!**


End file.
